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Ramblings of an amature historian

Tag Archives: Internet

Have you ever heard a professional or respected individual in their field say something wildly wrong with which you were able to say nothing and only able to gaze in shock? Well I get to do that while paying hundreds of dollars for that said misinformation.

I may be being a bit harsh but as a mildly stingy person I want to get good use out of my cash. And as seeing as college is supposed to be a source of learning it makes hearing incorrect information all the more painful.

Now as a student attempting to major in history I am aware of how troublesome remembering so many dates, names, and places there can be. (Made infinitely worse by most monarchs sharing the same name.)

But at a point you leave the realm of reasonable misinformation and descend into wild inaccuracy.

During one of my economics classes my teacher (who for a miraculous change was not discussing her ex-husband) was talking about regulation. She went on to say, without hyperbole, that Ronald Reagan and George Bush deregulated the entire economy.

I have never felt that stupefied in any classroom before. Surely, I misheard her? Sadly, this was not the case. Despite how badly I wanted to challenge her statement I was too amazed to remember how to use my vocal chords.

To start with let’s take a brief look at both George Bush’s (she didn’t specify, so I shall go over both.)

-The Patriot Act and the NSA (social regulation is just as much a restriction as economic)

– Increased government spending

Hardly the complete deregulation I was told of.

Ronald Reagan was more free market in regards to both Bush’s but was nowhere near my economics teachers claim.

-Increased military spending and foreign intervention

-War on Drugs

-Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act of 1982, which raised taxes

Now if she were to claim that the early United States was unregulated, she would have a better case.

Thankfully this has been the only case of majorly false information that I have come across in my time in school. It is sad though that a statement coming from a college professor can be rebutted in a few quick searches. Although this does provide us a good example of how new tools on the internet allow us to pursue information in numerous new ways.

I’d like to take some time today to discuss internet safety. I usually don’t talk about myself but I feel some recent events I went through have some information worth sharing.

About five or so days ago I received a notification on my phone that someone attempted to access my email account. I quickly notified Google that it wasn’t me and changed my password. Thinking the problem was solved, I went on with my life.

Yesterday, however, I received an email from Amazon saying that I had reported not receiving numerous items and that a refund would be issued shortly for all these items. I quickly reached out to Amazon and notified them that it was not me who requested the refunds, and they responded, canceling any orders and actions that may have been done by this third party. I then changed my password and checked to see if anything else was wrong with my account. Luckily there wasn’t.

There are several things I have learned from this that can help you be more secure online.

1.Do NOT use the same password for more than one account.

This was my problem. This is just setting yourself up to have every account you have to be stolen. Once a hacker figures out the password you use, it’s over. Make sure to use different passwords for everything, even between Twitter and Facebook.

2. The simple trick to secure passwords.

Think the best password is one only you could remember? Wrong. Clever passwords may seem like a good idea but ones that you create are easier to get into.

A password such as greatestblogger20 may be easy to remember but it does not have much variance. If you take it apart it only features lowercase numbers and letters. The less unique characters you have the easier it for others to crack.

A password such as !greatestb10gger20? Is much better. It incorporates more unique characters such as an exclamation mark and question mark. However it still uses “dictionary phrases”, common words that could be easily guessed.

However, if you really want to be secure there is one great trick. Mash your keyboard. No joke.

The password #bes7H8gf! may seem like utter nonsense, but that’s what makes it so secure. No one could ever guess such a combination without a complex software program designed to crack passwords. Just as a lock with more numbers becomes harder to crack so does your password by incorporating more unique characters.

3. Write down your new passwords.

Unless you have a photographic memory or are far smarter than me (which isn’t hard) you will have a very hard time remembering tons of random passwords. Simply write them down somewhere and take a picture of them. Or if you want take the piece of paper with you. You can also keep your passwords on a word document on your computer or phone.

Remember thieves and hackers will never rest as they try to steal what you worked for. Always remain vigilant and keep your security measures up to date.